Telephone locking device



T. G. MURTON. TELEPHONE LOCKING DEVICE. APPLICATION FiLED MAR. 19. 1919.

1,332,5 64. Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

1 Favor 6 Mar/0n a Swot/Mug TREVOR G. MURTON, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

TELEPHONE LOCKING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

Application filed March 19, 1919. Serial No. 283,623.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, TREVOR G. MURTON, a subject of the King of England, and residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have invented a new and Improved Telephone Locking Device, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to telephone locks, the purpose being to prevent the unauthorized use of the instrument.

One feature of the invention consists in a device clamped rigidly upon the telephone standard or column and'having a key operated element, independent of the clamping means, for preventing the vibration of the receiver hook. The device thus formed may be attached to and remain a permanent part of the instrument (although it is preferably detachable therefrom at will), it being only necessary to insert and turn a key to lock or unlock the hook; the device thus constructed is more convenient and otherwise more desirable than would be the case were it necessary that it be removed as a whole from the instrument when the latter is to be unlocked.

A second feature consists in a guard operable simultaneously with the locking means (itself independent of the clamping means) wherebyaccess to a holding element of the clamp is permitted or prevented, depending on the position of the lock. In the embodiment shown, one may insert a screw driver into the housing to release a holding screw when the receiver hook is unlocked, thereby providing for ready removalof the device from the instrument, whereas said screw is inaccessible when the device is locked. It is preferable and highly desirable, although not entirely necessary, that the element which acts directly on the re ceiver hook to prevent the latter from rising, and the element which prevents access to the holding screw, be made in one piece.

The invention also consists in various details and arrangements of parts which will hereinafter be more fully explained.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the device applied to a desk telephone. Fig; 2 is a top planview of the device. Fig. 3 is a plan view, corresponding to Fig. 2, the top section of the housing and the detachable clamp member being omitted.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 1-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3, parts being broken away to show the position of the combined guard and locking member. Figs. 6 and 7 are perspective views showing, respectively, the combined guard and locking member, and the lock barrel.

The usual desk telephone ap ears at 1; it is provided with a receiver hoo 2 that may be vibrated vertically in a slot 3 (Fig. 5) formed in the wall of the tubular standard or column a just below a flange 5 thereon, to make or break the telephone circuit.

In the embodiment of the invention shown, the lock housing includes an upper wall or section 6 flanged or bossed at 78 to form a substantially U-shaped chamber which is closed by the lower wall or section 9. While the upper and lower walls may be secured together permanently in various ways, this is accomplished in the present device by lugs 10, Fig. 1, formed on the flange or boss elements 78 and peened or riveted over intocorresponding notches 11 (Fig. 3) in the lower wall. One arm of the housing includes an out-turned hook 12 which is in serted in an eye 13 of a U-shaped clamping member let and the opposite end of the latter is threaded to receive the screw 15, the head of which is concealed within the other arm of the housing. When the screw is tightened as hereinafter indicated, the housing and member 1 1 are clamped together upon the standard and, once adjusted, need not be removed. Obviously, the parts 12-13 may be reversed.

Mounted in the housing is an arc-shaped member 16 movable axially about its center of curvature between two limits in one of which a projection 17 thereon enters the slot in the standard above the receiver arm to prevent the latter from rising when the receiver is removed, while in the other position the projection is free and clear from the slot. The member 16 includes a flange 18, Figs. 4 and 6, notched or perforated at 19 to register, when the member is in the last named position, with a notch or perforation 20 in the flange 7 it being observed, Fig. 5, that when the openings are thus alined one has free access to thehead of the screw '15 by inserting a driver along the arrowed line.

Various key-operated means may be em ployed for actuating the element 16; as shown, it is provided with a projection or stud 22 which is received in a slot 23 in an arm 24 of the lock barrel 25 whose opposite ends are shouldered at :26 and 27 to bear in the walls 6 and 9, the latter preferably being'closed over the barrel Whereas the former has an opening to expose the face of the barrel. The barrel is flanged at 30 and provided with a groove or opening 31 into which a detent 32 is pressed by a spring 33 when the projection 17 is received in the slot in the standard; it also has a key slot 34 into which a key (not shown) may be inserted for depressing the detent to clear the flange 30 and to thereafter turn the barrel about its own axis; said key having lugs or projections complementary to the lugs or projections 3536 on the body. The wall 6 is slotted at 38 to permit the insertion of the key, and preferably also at 39 so that the key may be removed when the device is in unlocked position.

In use, the device is clamped on the standard, being retained thereon throughout the entire period. Should it be desired to use the instrument, the latter being locked, it is only necessary to insert and turn the key which may then be withdrawn or left in place." In locking, the operation is reversed. The accessibility of the screw 15, when the parts are in unlocked position, permits the device to be readily removed as, for example, when it is to be applied to another instrument. Were the head of the screw 15 invisible one might experience some little difficulty in entering the screw driver in the slot; it is preferred, therefore, to provide the wall 6 with a slot or sight opening 40, Fig. 2, so that the driver may be properly directed, but the opening is so placed and of such character that a tool cannot be inserted through it to turn the screw.

Obviously, certain features of the device may be changed widely without departing from the spirit of the invention; I do not, therefore, wish to be limited except as indicated by the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a telephone, a tubular standard, a/receiver hook supported thereby and adapted to swing to open and close the speaking circuit, and a lock device for said hook clamped to the standard and including a key-operated lock member, independent of the means for clamping the lock device to the standard,

movable into and from the path of the hook to prevent or permit said swinging movements at will.

.2. In a telephone including a tubular standard and a receiver support carried thereby and adapted to swing to open and close the speaking circuit, a lock for said hookincluding a housing and a releasable ard and a receiver support carried thereby and adapted to swing to open and close the speaking circuit, a locking device arranged to prevent or permit said swinging movements at will, said device including a lock housing, a clamp member associated therewith for holding the housing against the standard, and a connection between the clamp member and the housing, said connection being accessible for releasing purposes when thelocking device is in position to permit the receiver support to swing and being inaccessible for such purpose when said device is in position to prevent the receiver support from swinging.

4:. In a telephone having a slotted tubular standard and a receiver support carried thereby and adapted to swing in the slot to open and close the speaking circuit, a 10k housing, a clamp member connected to the housing by a releasable connection, said housing and clamp member being adapted to embrace the standard at the slot, and a key-operated device including a member arranged to be projected into the slot and to be withdrawn therefrom at will, said device and said housing together preventing access to the releasable connection when the member is projected into the slot.

5. In a telephone having a slotted tubular standard and a receiver support carried thereby and adapted to swing in the slot to open and close the speaking circuit, a lock housing and a clamp jaw connected thereto and together embracing the standard at the slot in the latter, and a key-operated device carried by the housing and arranged to be projected into or withdrawn from theslot at will while the housing and member so embrace the standard to prevent or permit such movement of the receiver support, as may be desired.

6. The combination of a housing and a clamping member which meet around a circular opening, said housing having a notch in one side, said members connecting by a hook and eye at one side, a screw connecting said members on the opposite side of the opening from said hook, a bolt slidable in the housing and having an extension adapted to extend across the notch therein, and a lock to position said bolt and to prevent access to said screw.

7. In a telephone having a standard and a receiver support carried thereby and adapted 120 to swing to open or close the speaking circuit at Will, a. clamp embracing the standard and including tWo inter-connected members adapted to have relative movement when the connection is disconnected, one of the members including a lock housing having an opening therein through Which a, tool may be inserted to release said connection, and a movable lock device in said housing arranged'to obstruct said opening to prevent 10 access to said connection and to simultaneously prevent swinging movement of the receiver support.

TREVOR G. MURTON. 

